Former world number eight Peter Fleming has claimed that there are three players more dangerous and likely to win Wimbledon than Andy Murray – depending if the Scot is fully fit heading into the Summer Slam.
The Brit, who decided to miss the majority of the clay court swing to focus on the grass court season, looked back to his old self as he made his first ATP tour final in three years in Stuttgart.
He played 2021 Wimbledon runner-up Matteo Berrettini in the final where he pushed the Italian to three sets but lost out to the man from Rome 6-4, 5-7, 6-3, but the major talking point was a medical time out for Murray that dealt with an abdominal injury.
Murray was subsequently forced to pull out of Queen’s and now there is worry if he will be fully fit for SW19 on 27 June.
Peter Fleming, when commentating for the BBC during Berrettini’s first round match at Queen’s against British hopeful Dan Evans, was asked which players would he put ahead of the 26-year-old to win Wimbledon.
The former Doubles Grand Slam winner said, “Well, I would put [Novak] Djokovic above him, if [Rafael] Nadal plays he goes up there.”
He was then asked if Murray would go above Berrettini, to which he responded, “No, I wouldn’t put him above Berrettini. I think that Andy is a danger, he is definitely the sort of guy that nobody is going to want to play, but to expect him to win seven matches, best of five sets, that is asking a lot at this point don’t you think?
“I don’t think that it matters that much whether he is seeded or not because he has played all these matches, he should be sharp going into his first-round match.
“If he had to play a seed in the first round, nobody is going to want to have to do that. No one is going to want to play him, so if he wins that match, because he would expect to beat a lot of seeds, now he is right in the seeds draw.
“If you are going to go deep you are going to have to beat a seed at some point.”
(Photo credits Paul Zimmer)
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